Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told EU leaders that the accession process should begin now and criticized associate membership as unfair. He said associate membership would leave Ukraine without voting rights, preventing Kyiv from advancing its interests. Ukraine has intensified efforts to join the EU after Hungary’s former prime minister Viktor Orban was ousted in parliamentary elections. Under Orban, Hungary used veto power to block Ukraine’s accession bid and stalled approval of aid for Kyiv. The EU push coincides with battlefield developments, including a drone attack in Russia-occupied Luhansk that killed people and injured others, with Ukraine denying responsibility for a student dormitory strike. Ukraine also said it hit a chemical plant in Russia’s Perm region supplying military production facilities.
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told European Union leaders that now is the time to begin the process of Ukraine's accession to the bloc, describing a proposal for associate membership as unfair. Zelenskyy said in a letter to EU leaders on Friday that associate membership would leave Ukraine voiceless because it would not have voting rights, which would prevent Kyiv from advancing its interests, the Reuters news agency reported."
"Ukraine has intensified efforts to join the EU after Hungary's former prime minister, Viktor Orban, was ousted in parliamentary elections last month. Under Orban, who maintained close ties with Russia, Budapest repeatedly used its veto power to block Ukraine's accession bid and stalled approval of aid for Kyiv. Zelenskyy's push for EU membership comes as both Kyiv and Moscow seek to advance their interests on the battlefield."
"The head of the Russian-occupied Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine said on Saturday the death toll from a drone attack a day earlier had risen to 10. Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces to respond to the attack, which allegedly hit a student dormitory in the town of Starobilsk. The head of the region, Leonid Pasechnik, said 48 people were injured in the attack while 11 remain missing."
"Kyiv has denied striking the dorm, saying it targeted an elite drone command unit in the area and that it complies with international humanitarian law. Ukraine's military hit a large chemical plant, Metafrax Chemical, in Russia's Perm region, 1,700km (1,050 miles) from the border, Zelenskyy said on Saturday. The company's products supply dozens of other Russian military production facilities, including aircraft equipment and drones, missile engines, and explosives."
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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